would be Chad Henne unless he improves greatly in the regular season our record will be some where between 6-10 to 9-7. I hate to say it but 3 points when your ones were against their twos does not make me confident in him at all. I know it's preseason however he stunk tonight as well. It might be time for Penninmgton to take this team over and lead us to the playoofs like he did 2 short years ago. Pennington has pocket presence. He can also escape the rush. I don't see Henne doing or having any of this. I hope I am wrong however I doubt it.

We also need some leadership on both sides of the ball. We are a very young team. We need some vets to stand up and take charge. Usually want that out of your QB, not sure our QB can provide that yet.

Thigpen is more mobile than both.

Pennington's complete inability to throw the ball downfield really hinders the offense. He was the reason why the wildcat became necessary. With Pennington, the safeties play very close to the line of scrimmage, really limiting the running game out of the base offense.

I hate to say it but Shady is right, Henne can't move to save his life, and takes so many unecesary sakes, and INT's.

If he has all day then sure he is phenominal, but when hurried Henne is not that good.

Godamn*t......I hate to be a fair weathered fan but wtf is going on with HENNE?

Thigpin might be the answer. He looked great on the last TD drive.
He extends the play, makes plays, and can make some clutch throws.
At least the #2.

im going to withhold judgement untill at least week 2. idk that were seeing the full offensive picture his job is secure and he knows that so what would make him want to try 100% in such meaningless games.

Mia1 Wrote:
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> I hate to say it but Shady is right, Henne can't
> move to save his life, and takes so many unecesary
> sakes, and INT's.
>
> If he has all day then sure he is phenominal, but
> when hurried Henne is not that good.


I hate it when Henne takes a sake but it really sucks when he takes a sack.

Like the Fumble tonight, just throw the ball WAY over the wr out of bounds? I dont know .

It's a tough call.. Henne needs to grow, and his best chance to grow is to be in there. That's what the team is going with. But.. we'll know better once the season starts but my feeling is Pennington gives us better overall chances of success THIS season. I understand that we need to look to the future, and that Pennington is injury prone and less good on the long ball and all that, but it just seems a shame to be sitting a guy as great as he is on the bench.

ABR Wrote:
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> It's a tough call.. Henne needs to grow, and his
> best chance to grow is to be in there. That's
> what the team is going with. But.. we'll know
> better once the season starts but my feeling is
> Pennington gives us better overall chances of
> success THIS season. I understand that we need to
> look to the future, and that Pennington is injury
> prone and less good on the long ball and all that,
> but it just seems a shame to be sitting a guy as
> great as he is on the bench.

I agree; Henne's best chance for success (and the team's best chance) is getting more reps. It's also probably the best chance for Pennington to extend his career beyond this year.

Penny has a lesser chance of making it through the season as a starter without being injured, so it suits him to be a backup.

I think we just have to have trust in Henne this year, knowing that Pennington is his mentor and backup.

All I know is you either have it as a player or not. Henne better show me something at Buffalo or at halftime he goes to the bench in favor of Pennington. He looks totally bad, and out of synch with his receivers. We can't afford to lose the game at Buffalo. Thats why I say I have more confidence in Pennington. The old Pro knows how to win on the road.

I will give Henne up to week 4 to show what he can do. I think that is a fair shot at the man.

dolfanmark Wrote:
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> Pennington's complete inability to throw the ball
> downfield really hinders the offense. He was the
> reason why the wildcat became necessary. With
> Pennington, the safeties play very close to the
> line of scrimmage, really limiting the running
> game out of the base offense.

And yet he has been our most efficient QB. He's been in a total of 5 series this preseason and has led the team to a couple of TD and a FG.

The Achilles heel is FS, not QB.

Finshady Wrote:
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> All I know is you either have it as a player or
> not. Henne better show me something at Buffalo or
> at halftime he goes to the bench in favor of
> Pennington.

Keep dreaming. No way in hell that Henne will be benched at halftime of the first game. No matter how bad he plays. Keep dreaming.

DolfanMike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dolfanmark Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Pennington's complete inability to throw the
> ball
> > downfield really hinders the offense. He was
> the
> > reason why the wildcat became necessary. With
> > Pennington, the safeties play very close to the
> > line of scrimmage, really limiting the running
> > game out of the base offense.
>
> And yet he has been our most efficient QB. He's
> been in a total of 5 series this preseason and has
> led the team to a couple of TD and a FG.


Against second team defenses who aren't gameplanning for him. It's no coincidence how much better our running game got from the base offense once Pennington went down.

dolfanmark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> Against second team defenses who aren't
> gameplanning for him.

Not as easy as you think. Henne had three series with his first team offense against Dallas' second teamers and only came away with a FG.

Pennington had two series with the second team offense against the same Dallas players and scored a TD. Your logic makes no sense here.


> It's no coincidence how much
> better our running game got from the base offense
> once Pennington went down.

And our passing got worse than Henne. Your logic kinda breaks down when you look at the fact that our passing game was more effective in 2008.

I'm not saying the Pennington is a better choice than Henne, just that your criticism of Pennington is completely baseless. Pennington has proven he can still play, no matter what theories you come up with as to why he can't.

Phinsfan2 Wrote:
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> You guys are amazing.
>
> Pennington is the past. Henne is the future.
> He's not going to get ANY better sitting on the
> bench.

AGREE!! We know Pennington won't win a Super Bowl, he isn't a Super Bowl QB he has proven that in 10 years. I can't say that about Henne, Henne could be a guy to lead a team to a Super Bowl. Therefore Henne has the job and won't lose it all.

Phinsfan2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You guys are amazing.
>
> Pennington is the past. Henne is the future.
> He's not going to get ANY better sitting on the
> bench. So you can suffer through his growing
> pains this year or you can put them off until next
> year. Either way, he needs to play to improve.
>
> If he's got a lousy completion % and TD/INT ratio
> at the end of the year then feel free to bitch
> about him. At that point he'd have 29 starts
> under his belt and you'd have enough info to make
> a decision on his potential. But benching him
> after half a game or even 4 games is nuts.
>
> Look...you need a top ten type QB to win a title
> in this league.
>
> Is Henne that guy? Maybe, maybe not. But
> Pennington DEFINITELY isn't that guy, and Thigpen
> isn't either (at least at this point). You have
> to play Henne the whole season to determine if he
> is that guy because if he isn't we need to start
> looking for that guy as soon as this off-season.


I'm not saying the Pennington should play instead of Henne. Only that going around saying Pennington sucks is stupid and wrong. Pennington is one of the best - if not the best - backup QB in the NFL. There are a lot of teams in this league he starts for. Just not us. Good problem to have.

Henne is clearly the choice. The Achilles heel and comparing him to Ryan Leaf - that is just pure stupidity and lack of knowledge.

With Marshall at WR, he could lead us with our running game.

Defense win's the championship. Regardless of the offense.

Look at the Jets in the playoffs last year, Defense kept them in it.

The Saints beat the Vik's because they forced key turnovers.

Pennington could lead us to the playoffs, and superbowl, but the defense will have to be really up for it.

Phinsfan2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I love Pennington. He's a great teammate and
> good NFL QB. As you said, he's one of the best
> backups in the league. But we aren't winning a
> Super Bowl with him at QB. He's to limited at
> this point in his career.


Exactly. Pennington isn't winning any team a SUPER BOWL with his pop-gun arm at this point in his career. He was exposed in the Baltimore playoff game 2 years ago. To expect him to go on the road to NE, NY, Balt, Pitt or a cold weather city and for him to throw passes in the conditions in big games, please. Aint gonna hapepn. Penny is a nice guy, good back-up, but if he is playing for the Fins this year while Henne sits then this team is in a mess.

The Baltimore loss was not solely or even mostly on Pennington's shoulders. Taking that team, that receiving core, that D in '08 as far as he did, there's no question that Pennington has what it takes to be a superbowl QB. We're not sitting him this year because he can't do it. We're sitting him because Henne has potential, he's grown and shown he can grow further, and he's that much closer to being that long-term solid option at the position than he was last year when he sat for Pennington. His time to step up is now.

ABR Wrote:
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> The Baltimore loss was not solely or even mostly
> on Pennington's shoulders.

He had 4 INT's and a fumble

One of the reasons the Jets let Pennington go was that his arm was not good enough to get through the cold weather games needed to win in the AFC East and in the AFC playoffs. He has started 16 games in a season just twice in his 10 year career. He's only had 6 seasons where he has started more than 3 games, which shows that his durability is a major concern. And we are a little misled by his 2008 performance. It was the second best season of his career. In his career, he has only had 2 seasons on that high level. In the other years:

2100 yards, 13 TD, 12 INT
2600 yards, 16 TD, 9 INT
3300 yards, 17 TD, 16 INT
1700 yards, 10 TD, 9 INT

In 88 career starts, his teams are 43-45.

In his 6 playoff games, he has 8 TD and 8 INT, and a QB rating of 77.3.

Pennington is a very smart QB, and a very accurate passer. But, please remember how bad we were on converting 3rd and longs in 2008. We ranked last in the NFL in converting anything beyond 3rd and 7. Pennington is limited in what he can do, and for most of his career, he has not been nearly as good as he was for us in 2008. Our team is still building for the future. We need youth at RB. We need another big time weapon at WR. We still have questions on the o-line. The defense is going to start 6 guys who are either rookies or 2nd year players. At age 34, and very injury prone, Chad Pennington is not the answer. We need to let Henne play and develop.

Can we all agree who ever plays QB better play it well because if not then our playoff chances are kaput. In most NFL games it's the QB that determines which team wins for the most part. I know their are other factors like turnovers however why do Peyton Manning,Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rogers win so much. Henne has to be a difference maker for our team not our opponents. I think he can be elite. He has shown flashes of brilliance, but he needs to be more consistant. Our season is riding on his right arm, but if he falters Pennington is a sesoned veteran and a worthy compliment.